9/07/2012

As
a woman, I have to respect the bitchiness of Bachelorette. Holy crap, are the
people in this movie awful. The women are shrill and selfish, most of the men
are manipulative and egotistical, nobody seems to really like each other that much.
Everyone is tied together by these complicated notions of loyalty and duty, and
even those well-meaning efforts get fucked up. So yea, Bachelorette is
basically like high school—and is equal parts enlightening and infuriating.

It’s
important to realize that Bachelorette is not going to be a fun movie for
viewers; it’s not last summer’s Bridesmaids, and it’s cheeky title is clearly
not meant to be taken seriously. In fact, it’s mostly a train wreck, with its
female characters Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla
Fisher) reveling in calling each other bitches, compulsively doing lines of
cocaine and offering themselves up sexually to pretty much any man available. And
this is all the night before their larger friend Becky (Rebel Wilson) is due to
get married, but they couldn’t care less about her plans for a quiet evening at
the hotel with champagne and ice cream. They’re going to get crazy in
Manhattan, and they’re going to make fun of how big Becky’s wedding dress is,
and they’re going to tear it, and then they’re maniacally going to try and find
a way to fix it. No matter that it’s in the early morning, or that Regan and
Gena are sparring, or that Katie is high out of her mind. They owe Becky, and
they’re going to make it right.

But
while the girls may fit the textbook definition of “slut” — as we’re reminded
when bouncers at a strip club think they’re prostitutes, and Becky’s betrothed
note that they look like trashy dancers — the men they’re surrounded with aren’t
that awesome, either. Best man Trevor (James Marsden) carries around pills,
wads of cash for strippers, and is trying to figure out which bridesmaid he’s
going to sleep with, even though he can’t remember their names. Joe (Kyle
Bornheimer) has nursed a crush on Katie through the years, but he can’t get
over his idealized fiction of her. And Clyde (Adam Scott), Gena’s ex-boyfriend,
is cutting and mocking, the kind of guy who knows all your secrets and isn’t
afraid to use them against you.

It’s
not easy to like these people, but movies are supposed to make you think, aren’t
they? And in that sense, director and writer Leslye Headland has accomplished
something solid here. The dark comedy of Bachelorette brings to mind a more
jacked-up version of ‘80s cult classic Heathers, but her understanding of
female relationships are more nuanced. When competition gets put aside, where
does loyalty come in? Why are we so cruel to each other, but then so
supportive? These women aren’t always kind or polite, but I could relate to
them; I also think most other female viewers could. Be honest with yourself,
and there’s probably a little of Regan, Gena, Katie and Becky in all of us.

What
helps move Bachelorette along are the performances from Dunst, Caplan and
Scott; the latter two keep getting thrown together to portray romantic
partners, and if I were Scott’s wife, I’d be worried in real life. There’s too
much chemistry between the two of them; their romance and backstory come off as
thoroughly real. So too do Regan’s uber-competence and profound
bitterness—watch Dunst’s face as Becky tells her that she’s getting married,
and it’s a crumbling of emotions ranging from rage to disgust. When Regan
complains to Gena, “I did everything right. I went to college. I exercise. … I
got a boyfriend in med school. And nothing is happening to me,” you feel for
her, even though she’s a blond ice queen with a perfect body. Appearances aren’t
everything.

Nevertheless,
Bachelorette isn’t perfect; it falls apart in a rushed final act that doesn’t
do these characters justice. Too many things get tied up in a neat bow for a
film that, up until then, rejected that very cuteness, and there are lots of worthwhile
questions about women and female friendships that aren’t fully answered.
Ultimately the sparseness of the story plagues Headland’s vision, but that
doesn’t mean Bachelorette isn’t worthwhile. We always want women behaving
badly, don’t we? And damn, are Dunst and Co. good at it.